The US Commerce Department has found dumping of imports of welded line pipe from South Korea and Turkey, according to a preliminary finding released on Friday. The dumping finding means a foreign company is selling a product in the United States at less than fair value. The difference between a product's price in the foreign market and its price in the United States is expressed as a "dumping margin."
Welded line pipe from Korea has been sold in the United States at dumping margins ranging from 2.52 percent to 2.67 percent, the Commerce Department said in its preliminary determination. Welded line pipe from Turkey has been sold in the United States at dumping margins ranging from 3.11 percent to 9.85 percent, it said.
"Commerce will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates, adjusted for export subsidies, as appropriate, found in the preliminary determination of the companion Turkey countervailing duty investigation," the department said in a fact sheet. The department said in November it would look into imports of welded line pipe from South Korea and Turkey after a complaint from companies including Northwest Pipe Company, JMC Steel Group's Energex division and Maverick Tube Corporation.